Golden-crowned Kinglet

(Regulus satrapa)

Where: Richmond, VA • Glidewell Rd.

Notes: I have a couple of friends that have had this species of Kinglet at their birdbaths before, but I had no such visit until this day. Knowing that others had seen this bird bathing and drinking, gave me hope that I might add a new species to my birdbath list. It would be number fifty-two. I was initially set-up in hopes of capturing some remote shots of a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker that had come by the puddle a couple of days before. It too was a new species. The Sapsucker preferred to perch on the front corner of the dripping rock and take a few sips. So I had the camera pointed in the wrong direction when this Golden-crowned showed up. This little four inch gem was determined to approach the water, but a Chickadee scared it off. I waited a few minutes, and thinking that the bird had flown off, I decided to go out and adjust the camera, in case the Kinglet came back. To reposition the shot, I kneeled at the camera which was set low on the tripod to shoot with a remote trigger, and peeked through the viewfinder. As I peered through the hole, I was surprised to see that the Kinglet had returned to the water while I was sitting there only ten feet away! I had to reset the focus points, lowering it down to just one, and managed to capture a hand full of decent shots. This was my favorite from the batch.

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